The Oprah Secret/New Earth thing is still really bothering me, especially after noting the comment somewhere below which certainly seemed to have missed the point I was trying to make about the fallacy of Oprah's latest sermonizing.  Let me make it as clear as possible:  Jesus Christ was not just a nice teacher, here to raise our "Christ-consciousness" (whatever that's supposed to be.)  I actually watched a show on Discovery a couple of nights ago which was supposed to be about the host's search for the real Jesus.  It ended up highlighting the Gnostic gospels, and saying that Jesus was a "political revolutionary" who was killed because He was preaching that the Romans should not be in charge of the Jews (I missed that somehow in my study of the gospels, but perhaps it's in there, somewhere???)  Here's the deal:  Christ was crucified because HE CLAIMED TO BE GOD.  A quick review:

When Moses asked the Voice in the burning bush, 'Who shall I say sent me?'  God said. . .

Exodus 3:14  I Am Who I Am.

The name God gave him is translated Jehovah, and is the name God was referred to primarily throughout the Old Testament.  Jesus applied this same name to Himself during His earthly ministry, therefore claiming equality with God. . .

John 8:58 Before Abraham was, I am.

That's why the Pharisees were so ticked off at Him!  They recognized these words to be a proclamation by Jesus, and were so offended that they picked up stones to throw at Him *right there!* 

Jesus often introduced Himself with the words, "I am . . ." as noted in these scriptures:

1.   I am the bread of life                            Jn. 6.35-59

2.   I am the light of the world                    Jn. 8.12; 9.5; 12.35-36

3.   I am the door                                        Jn. 10.7-10

4.   I am the good shepherd                         Jn. 10.11-18

5.    I am the resurrection and the life         Jn. 11.25

6.    I am the way, the truth and the life      Jn. 14.6

7.    I am the true vine                                 Jn. 15.1-11

And here are some really good ones!

8.  I am the Alpha and the Omega                   Rev. 1.8; 1.17-18; 21.6; 22.13

9.  I am the root and the offspring of David,
 the bright morning star                              Rev. 22.16

In Mark 2:5, Jesus says to the paralytic whom He later healed, "Son, your sins are forgiven."  In Mark 2:7 the Pharisees are recorded as saying, "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"

Before His death, Jesus said to the disciples, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father."  (John 14:9)

John 10:30 "I and the Father are One."

I wonder that more people don't see the dichotomy between believing that a) Jesus was a really good guy and b) He wasn't the Son of God.  First of all, He accepted worship, which would not be appropriate unless one were God.  Second of all, He claimed to be God, which is of course also inappropriate unless one is telling the truth!  Thirdly, He allowed all of his disciples to be killed for the belief and declaration that He was the Son of God, which doesn't seem a very nice thing to do unless that were actually the case . . . not to mention the millions who have died for such a belief and declaration since then (more in this century than all the previous ones combined, by the way.) 

While claiming to be God, Jesus was either lying, crazy, or TELLING THE TRUTH.  "Nice guy" is not one of the options.

In several places the writers of the gospels make it clear that they know Who Jesus is . . .

John 1:1-3,14: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning, and without Him was nothing made that has been made. . . and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

Matthew 1:23: "'Behold, the Virgin shall be with Child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which means, God with us."

Luke 2:11 "unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord." 

Please see that Christ is declared to be our SAVIOR, not merely our example! 

Why does it matter?  Well, in John 8:24 Jesus Himself says, "Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

But if we *do* believe in Jesus--that He is the I AM--we won't die in our sins.  In fact, He promises that we will live forever, though we die.  SO . . .

Colossians 2: 4,8-9,13 "I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument . . . See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.  For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form . . . He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." 

Well, that's it for today.  Others have spelled this out far more eloquently than I, but I just had to make my own defense here.  Christ is God.  He died for us on the cross, and it matters what we believe about Him.  He is the only forgiveness we have, our only freedom from the enemy and our own guilt and shame, our only hope for the here and now and the hereafter.  I'm sure there will be more and more deception over the airwaves, especially this week, as the enemy tries to cloud the truth of the death of Christ.  A New Earth is still number one on the best seller list, it's being advertised and promoted day after day, 24/7 by one of the wealthiest, most recognized public figures in the world--one who is actively promoting a candidate for President of the United States-- and it's LIES.  Let's make it as plain as we can to as many as we can!